New Gods of North America

By the time Wayne returned to the detective agency's courtyard in a 'borrowed ride,' his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The tail that Father Tyrrell had arranged had stopped following him after the 'fugitive tracking' began.

One reason was that they didn't want to reveal themselves to Tom Hagen with too few people, and the other was that the detective agency might have to get serious at the time. Wayne didn't want Ineza and Lena's full strength to be exposed, so he went along with it and got rid of him.

Otherwise, Wayne would definitely have pulled him in to take the blame when he was dodging the dirty water later.

After thinking about it, it was possible that Tom Hagen wouldn't stay in the office all the time,

and that he had a 'mole' around him.

Guessing in a positive direction, this kind of thing might not be difficult to do.

For example, Father Tyrrell might act like a good old man, putting on an innocent and worried look, and some unreliable guy might secretly help him find out information, not necessarily out of malicious intent.

But guessing in a negative direction, at least Wayne himself felt that this kind of 'leaky surroundings' thing was intolerable.

So, while Tom Hagen's side was leaking, the detective agency quickly began to self-check and correct, emphasizing 'work discipline'.

According to the partners' division of labor, this matter was Lena's responsibility, and it was also her specialty.

Lena felt that the detective agency's current situation in this regard should be okay. After all, if someone was a 'big mouth', the secret that would be leaked first might be related to the 'Wise Sage'.

However, she still called everyone together for a meeting, stating that not only ongoing tasks and some important matters, but even the trivial internal affairs of the detective agency were, in principle, within the scope of 'external confidentiality'.

Don't look at Lena, this little girl, usually being so carefree. At this moment, she actually has quite a bit of prestige among the agents. Once she gets serious, even Liam, who is usually always laughing, has to shut up obediently. Those who had gone to Georgia with her before were even more obedient.

Besides 'reasoning' and 'explaining knowledge', Ineza usually doesn't say much in front of people, but she has the battle record of 'being in bad shape but instantly killing people', and she also has a strong little fan like Conner. After she added a few words, the agents were even more muttering in their hearts, feeling that something about the detective agency had been leaked.

So, Wayne ended up acting like a 'white face' in the end, reiterating the detective agency's principle of 'voluntary entry and exit', and also bringing out the new proposal that the partners had discussed before the meeting.

The content was simple. In essence, after the Father Pasil incident, they planned to develop a group of 'backbones'. The current specific approach was to add a 'bonus retirement payment upon normal retirement after working in the detective agency for a certain number of years' on top of emphasizing the 'punishment of traitors'.

The corresponding amounts were different percentages, in five-year increments, with the longer the term, the higher the percentage. The calculation was based on the total amount of mission bonuses the agent had received during their career in the detective agency. Anyway, the better the performance of the agent, the larger the specific number. At the current salary level of the detective agency, if calculated based on the current capped 'retirement after twenty years of work', they shouldn't have to consider work after retiring.

As for the source of this money, in addition to the detective agency's continued small profits and quick turnover from commissions, there was also the potential income from some subsidiary industries that Wayne planned to engage in. Anyway, the money came from the detective agency itself. Unless the detective agency couldn't continue to operate, Wayne still wanted to see the world of 'Ming soldiers unhappy with their pay, but unbeatable when paid well'.

Lane didn't know whether he should be considered lucky or unlucky. He was originally happily returning with half of the branch office's staff to resign, but as soon as he came back, he ran into the detective agency holding a meeting. At first, they were talking about topics that seemed very serious.

Therefore, the smile on his face quickly froze there, and then he could only honestly listen to the lecture. Fortunately, he seemed quite interested in the retirement plan later. Wayne saw him counting his fingers there, probably silently calculating how much money he could get in the end based on his current income level.

After the meeting, since they had run into each other, the follow-up was naturally to welcome the returning agents, let them rest for two days, have a big meal, and so on.

The smile on Lane's face had just returned not long ago, and then it quickly disappeared again:

"Sir, do you mean that my next task is to prepare for the 'second branch office'?"

Wayne patted him on the shoulder with a grin, and then called Liam over, intending to introduce the two of them.

At the same time, he slightly comforted Lane, "Currently, you are the only one with experience in this area at the detective agency. If you don't want to continue to be responsible for preparing the branch office later, you can consider bringing out some suitable people as soon as possible.

"As for the guy who is coming over, he has been quite active recently and also hopes to squat in the first branch office. You can discuss with him the candidates for rotation, and then submit the list to the partners for review.

"However, he was previously considered a prisoner of our detective agency, and his reliability still needs to be considered. You can treat him as a member of the detective agency, but don't trust him too much for the time being."

In fact, the branch office had measures in place from the beginning of its institutional design to prevent the person in charge of the branch office from being hollowed out or actively defecting while abroad.

However, the system still needs people to implement it. It's always better to give a heads-up in advance than to remedy it afterwards.

Liam's adaptability in all aspects is good. Wayne intends to give him a chance to see his true colors.

Considering his past experience, it is impossible for him to be the person in charge of the branch office in the short term, but with the communication skills and extraordinary abilities he has shown so far, it is estimated that he will have no problem becoming a small boss.

After finishing these things, Wayne had time to carefully look at the gains from this mission.

The original eight extraordinary materials had now turned into a large-eyed octopus whose intelligence came and went. Considering that he had provided a lot of useful information later, Wayne could consider taking him to Macken Reef's cenotaph to pay respects later.

As for the remaining parts, the more than 1,200 US dollars of 'crime funds' or 'escape reserve funds' that were searched from the criminals had already entered the detective agency's petty cash, and there were also some potions and strange little gadgets.

The two most valuable potions had been roughly identified by Ineza.

The one with only a little less than half a bottle left could be used as a sleeping draught. Damon McQueedy personally tested its effectiveness. It could be absorbed through the respiratory mucosa or orally. If the dosage was sufficient, the effect was very strong. After being hit, you couldn't even shout, and you couldn't run too far.

The other type, which had two small bottles left, was a potion used by extraordinary people to stabilize their own state. It could be used in all fields, so the production cost was said to be quite high. Using it to temporarily delay the time when you were on the verge of losing control was okay, but if you really wanted to take it for a long time, for most people, it would be better to just die.

As for those strange little gadgets, some seemed to be small props that could enhance the effects of specific extraordinary abilities, while some were simply garbage with good materials and workmanship.

Wayne didn't expect that the one that Lena had specially picked out and marked was actually the most garbage-looking ceramic 'small skull'.

"You're supposed to be an American, but you don't know good stuff."

Lena specially turned it over to show Wayne, "This is a high-end imitation of the Aztec Death Whistle, or a low-quality product of it. It's a specialty of the New World and can be sold to suckers as an antique."